Page 39 of Stolen Kisses
“So, you could be leaving?”
“Maybe. I don’t think I can raise my son here.” I could, just not by myself, not in the places where we’d be able to live. It would be dangerous.
Like everything else, I’d cross that bridge when I got there. This was now though; my priority was sorting out work and finding a more suitable place to stay.
“Let me give the money you need Maria.” He insisted.
“No, I mean it and if you insist I won’t take it. I need to do this for me. I should work. It’s better and I don’t want to feel obliged to anyone.”
“It’s me, you don’t have to feel anything.”
“I know, but … this is what I want. If the job’s a no then fair enough I’ll just continue looking, heck I nearly got work at Delizioso. Who would have thought Ava turned out to be Claudius’ wife and hey presto I run into both him and Luc, while I’m with Flynn.”
He laughed. “Heard about that. Did you cause a stir and rock the nest? I’ll bet old Luc demanded to know if Flynn was his in hisbig badway.”
“He did, and I think I was a little rude to him.” I was more than rude, but he kind of had it coming.
“Why’s that doll? Funny as it is to hear you handed him his ass.” Dante smirked.
“He didn’t come for me, he was more concerned with Flynn. I just thought if he’d seen just me, he wouldn’t have wanted to know what brought me back to Chicago.”
Dante looked at me and gave me an assessing look.
“The old me would have danced all over that theory. New me will tell you to give him the benefit of the doubt since bosses orders were for me to get you out of Vira’s and sort you out.”
My lips parted. “Bosses orders?”
“Yeah. Claudius and Luc, one and the same. One says something the other follows. Of course, it was all so very unnecessary, because good old Dante already checked on Maria. And she knew I’d be checking in on her whether she liked it or not.”
Dante had come to see me for me and there was the difference.
He smiled and continued. “Good old Dante even went as far as offering up his place to her and her boy, so she knew Dante had her back. Neither of them know you the way I do. You wouldn’t have liked the sorting out part, so I figured if push came to shove I’d do what was necessary. So, let’s start with that job you want so badly, because you don’t want to feel obliged to me. You can start tomorrow at eight if you hang out with me for a while.”
I was listening. Listening and taking it all in. It made me feel a little better. better knowing I wasn’t completely alone.
“Hang out?”
“A drink or two. Who’s watching Flynn? Please don’t say Vira.”
I liked that he was considerate of Flynn. “Sophia, I probably have half an hour. Forty-five minutes tops.” I’d told her I’d probably be gone for an hour and a half.
“Plenty of time to hang with me.” He stood up, came over to me and took my hand like it was habit.
“Dante D’Angelo where are you taking me?”
He turned and walked backwards while still holding my hand.
“My private quarters.”
His eyes sparkled and beneath the hard exterior of the man he was I saw the adventurous flicker of the boy he used to be.
Chapter 11
Maria
* * *
The minute we’d stepped into these private quarters of his it felt like we were in a completely different building.
